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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1271
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Library and other educational material" means any material 2
belonging to, on loan to or otherwise in the custody of a school library 3
media center, including, but not limited to, nonfiction and fiction books, 4
magazines, reference books, supplementary titles, multimedia and 5
digital material, software and other material not required as part of 6
classroom instruction. 7
(2) "School library staff member" means a school library media 8
specialist, school librarian, any certificated or noncertificated staff 9
member whose assignment is in the school library or any individual 10
carrying out or assisting with the functions of a school library media 11
specialist or school librarian. 12
(3) "Individual with a vested interest" means any school staff member 13
employed by a local or regional board of education, parent or guardian 14
of a student currently enrolled in a school at the time a reconsideration 15
form is filed under subsection (e) of this section and any student 16
currently enrolled in a school at the time a reconsideration form is filed 17
under subsection (e) of this section. 18 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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(4) "Remove" means deliberately taking library material out of a 19
library's collection. "Remove" does not include the process of clearing 20
such collection of any materials that are no longer useful. 21
(b) Each local and regional board of education, after consulting with 22
the superintendent of schools, the director of curriculum and a librarian 23
employed by such board, shall adopt a (1) collection development and 24
maintenance policy, (2) library display and program policy, and (3) 25
library material review and reconsideration policy. Each such policy 26
shall ensure that all library materials are evaluated and made accessible 27
in accordance with the protections against discrimination set forth in 28
section 10-15c of the general statutes, including, but not limited to, 29
discrimination based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, 30
national origin, sexual orientation or disability. In developing each such 31
policy, the board shall have control over the content of each such policy, 32
provided such policies are in accordance with the provisions of this 33
section. Each local and regional board of education shall review, and 34
update as necessary, each such policy every five years. 35
(c) The collection development and maintenance policy shall, at a 36
minimum: 37
(1) Recognize that library and other educational materials should (A) 38
be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all 39
students, and (B) represent a wide range of varied and diverging 40
viewpoints in the collection as a whole; 41
(2) Require student access to age-appropriate and grade-level-42
appropriate material, and provide access to library and other 43
educational material that is relevant to the research, independent 44
reading interests and educational needs of students based on a student's 45
age, development or grade level; 46
(3) Recognize the importance of the school library media center as a 47
place for voluntary inquiry, the dissemination of information and ideas 48
and the promotion of free expression and free access to ideas by 49
students; 50 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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(4) Acknowledge that a school library media specialist is 51
professionally trained to curate and develop a collection that provides 52
students with access to the widest array of age-appropriate and grade-53
level-appropriate library and other educational material; and 54
(5) Establish a procedure for a certified school library media specialist 55
to continually review library and other educational material within a 56
school library media center using professionally accepted standards, 57
which shall include, but need not be limited to, the material's relevance, 58
physical condition of the material, availability of duplicates or copies of 59
the material, availability of more recent age-appropriate or grade-level-60
appropriate material and continued demand for the material. 61
(d) The library display and program policy shall, at a minimum: 62
(1) Recognize that library displays should (A) be provided for the 63
interest, information and enlightenment of all students, (B) represent a 64
wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints, (C) require student 65
access to age-appropriate and grade-level-appropriate content, and (D) 66
provide access to content that is relevant to the research, independent 67
interests and educational needs of students; 68
(2) Recognize the importance of displays and student programs as 69
resources for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information 70
and ideas and to promote free expression and free access to ideas by 71
students; and 72
(3) Acknowledge that a school library media specialist is 73
professionally trained to curate and develop displays and programs that 74
provide students with access to the widest array of age-appropriate and 75
grade-level-appropriate library and other educational material. 76
(e) The library material review and reconsideration policy shall, at a 77
minimum: 78
(1) Establish a process for individuals with a vested interest to 79
challenge any library and other educational materials, display or 80 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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student program; 81
(2) Limit consideration of requests to reconsider and remove 82
material, displays or student programs to the parents and guardians of 83
students and eligible students currently enrolled in the school or school 84
district; 85
(3) Require that no library and other educational material, display or 86
program shall be removed from library media centers, or programs be 87
cancelled, because of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in 88
such material, display or program, or because of the origin, background 89
or viewpoints of the creator of such material, display or program; 90
(4) Require that library and other educational materials, displays and 91
student programs shall only be excluded for legitimate pedagogical 92
purposes or for professionally accepted standards of collection 93
maintenance practices as adopted in the collection development and 94
maintenance policy or the display and program policy; 95
(5) Require that any process for petitioners to challenge any library 96
and other educational material, display or student program shall neither 97
favor nor disfavor any group based on protected characteristics; 98
(6) Provide for the creation of a request for reconsideration form that 99
may be submitted by an individual with a vested interest to the 100
principal of the school in which the library and other educational 101
material is being challenged to initiate a review of such material. The 102
form shall require such individual to specify which portion or portions 103
of such material such individual objects to and provide an explanation 104
of the reasons for such objection. Such individual shall not submit a 105
request for reconsideration form without including such individual's 106
full legal name, address and telephone number; 107
(7) Require the principal, or the principal's designee, to promptly 108
forward the request for reconsideration to the superintendent of schools 109
for the school district. The superintendent, or the superintendent's 110
designee, shall appoint a review committee consisting of: (A) The 111 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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superintendent, or the superintendent's designee, (B) the principal of the 112
school in which the library and other educational material is being 113
challenged, or the principal's designee, (C) the director of curriculum, 114
or a person in an equivalent position, employed by such board, (D) a 115
representative from the local or regional board of education, (E) at least 116
one grade-level-appropriate teacher familiar with the library material, 117
provided the teacher selected is not the individual who submitted the 118
form, (F) a parent or guardian of a student age thirteen years or older 119
enrolled in the school district, provided the parent or guardian selected 120
is not the individual who submitted the form, (G) a parent or guardian 121
of a student age fourteen years or older enrolled in the school district, 122
provided the parent or guardian selected is not the individual who 123
submitted the form, and (H) a certified school librarian employed by 124
such board or employed by another board of education in the state. In 125
cases where such form is submitted by a student enrolled in grades nine 126
to twelve, inclusive, and when appropriate and at the discretion of the 127
superintendent, a student enrolled in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, 128
may serve on the review committee if such student did not submit the 129
reconsideration form, provided the superintendent consults with the 130
principal of the school involved in such reconsideration request prior to 131
making this determination whether to include such student on the 132
review committee; 133
(8) Require that any library and other educational material being 134
challenged remain available in the school library media center 135
according to such material's catalog record and be available for a 136
student to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made by 137
the review committee; 138
(9) Require the review committee to evaluate the request for 139
reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, 140
evaluate the challenged material against the school district's collection 141
development and maintenance policy and make a written decision on 142
whether or not to remove the challenged material not later than sixty 143
school days from the date of receiving such request. The review 144
committee shall provide a copy of the committee's decision and report 145 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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to the individual with a vested interest who submitted the form and to 146
the principal of the school; 147
(10) Permit the individual with a vested interest who submitted the 148
request for reconsideration form to appeal the review committee's 149
decision to the local or regional board of education for the school 150
district. The board, after evaluating the challenged material under the 151
school district's collection development and maintenance policy, shall 152
(A) provide a written statement of the reasons for the reconsideration of 153
or refusal to reconsider the library and other educational material, (B) 154
provide any final decision that is contrary to the decision of the review 155
committee, and (C) publish such reasons or decision on the Internet web 156
site of the school district; 157
(11) Provide that once a decision has been made by the review 158
committee on any library and other educational material, such material 159
cannot be subject to a new request for review and reconsideration for a 160
period of three years; 161
(12) Permit a school district to consolidate any requests for review 162
and reconsideration of the same challenged library and other 163
educational material; and 164
(13) Prohibit the removal, exclusion or censoring of any book on the 165
sole basis that a person with a vested interest finds such book offensive. 166
(f) Any school library media specialist or school library staff member 167
who, in good faith, implements the policies described in this section 168
shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might 169
otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity 170
with respect to any judicial proceeding that results from such 171
implementation. 172
(g) Any school library media specialist, school library staff member, 173
teacher, administrator, school staff member or local or regional board of 174
education member may bring an action for emotional distress, 175
defamation, libel, slander, damage to reputation or any other relevant 176 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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tort against any person who harasses such school library media 177
specialist, school library staff member, teacher, administrator, school 178
staff member or local or regional board of education member for 179
implementing the policies described in this section. 180
(h) Each local and regional board of education shall make the (1) 181
collection development and maintenance policy, (2) library program 182
and display policy, and (3) library material review and reconsideration 183
policy adopted under this section available on the board's or governing 184
body's Internet web site, or, if no such Internet web site exists, inside the 185
school library or included as part of such school library's policy manual. 186
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 187
(1) "Library and other educational material" means any material 188
belonging to, on loan to or otherwise in the custody of a public library, 189
including, but not limited to, nonfiction and fiction books, magazines, 190
reference books, supplementary titles, multimedia and digital material 191
and software. 192
(2) "Public library staff member" means a public library media 193
specialist, public librarian, any certificated or noncertificated staff 194
member whose assignment is in the public library or any individual 195
carrying out or assisting with the functions of a public library media 196
specialist. 197
(3) "Individual with a vested interest" means any individual residing 198
in the town in which the public library is located or the town in which 199
the contract library is located at the time a reconsideration form is filed 200
under subsection (e) of this section. 201
(4) "Remove" means deliberately taking library material out of a 202
library's collection. "Remove" does not include the process of clearing 203
such collection of any materials that are no longer useful. 204
(b) The board of trustees, or other governing body, of each public 205
library shall adopt a (1) collection development and maintenance policy, 206 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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(2) library display and program policy, and (3) library material review 207
and reconsideration policy. Each such policy shall ensure that all library 208
materials are evaluated and made accessible in accordance with the 209
protections against discrimination set forth in section 46a-64 of the 210
general statutes, including, but not limited to, discrimination based on 211
race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual 212
orientation or disability. In developing each such policy, the board shall 213
have control over the content of each such policy, provided such policies 214
are in accordance with the provisions of this section. The board of 215
trustees or other governing body shall review, and update as necessary, 216
each such policy every five years. 217
(c) The collection development and maintenance policy shall, at a 218
minimum: 219
(1) Recognize that library materials should (A) be provided for the 220
interest, information and enlightenment of all residents, and (B) 221
represent a wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints in the 222
collection as a whole; 223
(2) Recognize the importance of the public library as a place for 224
voluntary inquiry, the dissemination of information and ideas and the 225
promotion of free expression and free access to ideas by residents; 226
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate 227
and develop a collection that provides resident with access to the widest 228
array of library and other educational materials; and 229
(4) Establish a procedure for a librarian to continually review library 230
and other educational material within a public library using 231
professionally accepted standards, which shall include, but not be 232
limited to, the material's relevance, the physical condition of the 233
material, the availability of duplicates or copies of the material, the 234
availability of more recent age-appropriate or grade-level-appropriate 235
material and the continued demand for the material. 236
(d) The library display and program policy shall, at a minimum: 237 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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(1) Recognize that library displays should (A) be provided for the 238
interest, information and enlightenment of all residents, (B) represent a 239
wide range of varied and diverging viewpoints, and (C) provide access 240
to content that is relevant to the research, independent interests and 241
educational needs of residents; 242
(2) Recognize the importance of displays and programs as resources 243
for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas 244
and to promote free expression and free access to ideas by residents; 245
(3) Acknowledge that librarians are professionally trained to curate 246
and develop displays and programs; and 247
(4) Differentiate between library displays and programs that are 248
created or curated by librarians or staff members of the public library 249
and those displays and programs created by members of the public or 250
community groups and exhibited in the public library. 251
(e) The library material review and reconsideration policy shall, at a 252
minimum: 253
(1) Establish a process for individuals with a vested interest to 254
challenge any library and other educational material, display or 255
program; 256
(2) Limit consideration of requests to reconsider material, displays or 257
programs to individuals residing in the town in which the library is 258
located or the town in which the contract library is located; 259
(3) Require that no library material, display or program shall be 260
removed from library media centers, or programs be cancelled, because 261
of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in such material, 262
display or program or because of the origin, background or viewpoints 263
of the creator of such material, display or program; 264
(4) Require that library materials, displays and programs shall only 265
be excluded for legitimate pedagogical purposes or for professionally 266
accepted standards of collection maintenance practices as adopted in the 267 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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collection development and maintenance policy or the display and 268
program policy; 269
(5) Require that any process for petitioners to challenge any library 270
material, display or program shall neither favor nor disfavor any group 271
based on protected characteristics; 272
(6) Provide for the creation of a request for reconsideration form that 273
may be submitted by an individual to the library director to initiate a 274
review of such material. The form shall require such individual to 275
specify which portion or portions of such material such individual 276
objects to and provide an explanation of the reasons for such objection. 277
Such individual shall not submit a request for reconsideration form 278
without including such individual's full legal name, address and 279
telephone number; 280
(7) Acknowledge that reconsideration requests are not confidential 281
patron records under section 11-25 of the general statutes; 282
(8) Require that any library material being challenged remain 283
available in the library according to its catalog record and be available 284
for a resident to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made 285
by the library director; 286
(9) Require the library director to evaluate the request for 287
reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, 288
evaluate the challenged material against the collection development and 289
maintenance policy and make a written decision on whether or not to 290
remove the challenged material not later than sixty days from the date 291
of receiving such request. The library director shall provide a copy of 292
the library director's decision and report to the individual who 293
submitted the form; 294
(10) Permit the individual who submitted the request for 295
reconsideration form to appeal, in writing, the library director's decision 296
to the board of trustees or other governing body for the library. The 297
board, after evaluating the challenged material under the collection 298 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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development and maintenance policy, shall (A) consult with (i) the 299
library director, (ii) the State Librarian, or the State Librarian's designee, 300
(iii) a representative of the cooperating library service unit, as defined 301
in section 11-9e of the general statutes, (iv) the president of the 302
Connecticut Library Association, or the president's designee, and (v) the 303
president of the Association of Connecticut Library Boards, or the 304
president's designee, (B) deliberate on such request for reconsideration, 305
(C) provide a written statement of the reasons for the reconsideration or 306
refusal to reconsider the library material, and (D) provide any final 307
decision that is contrary to the decision of the library director; 308
(11) Provide that once a decision has been made by the library 309
director or the board of trustees or other governing board on the 310
reconsideration of any library material, such material cannot be subject 311
to a new request for reconsideration for a period of three years; 312
(12) Permit a library director to consolidate any requests for 313
reconsideration of the same challenged library material; and 314
(13) Prohibit the removal, exclusion or censoring of any book on the 315
sole basis that an individual finds such book offensive. 316
(f) Any librarian or staff member of a public library who, in good 317
faith, implements the policies described in this section shall be immune 318
from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or 319
imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to any judicial 320
proceeding that results from such implementation. 321
(g) Any librarian or staff member of a public library may bring an 322
action for emotional distress, defamation, libel, slander, damage to 323
reputation or any other relevant tort against any person who harasses 324
such librarian or staff member for implementing the policies described 325
in this section. 326
(h) The board of trustees, or other governing body, of each public 327
library shall make available the (1) collection development and 328
maintenance policy, (2) library display and program policy, and (3) 329 Substitute Bill No. 1271
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library material review and reconsideration policy adopted under this 330
section on the board's or governing body's Internet web site, or, if no 331
such Internet web site exists, inside the library or included as part of 332
such library's policy manual. 333
Sec. 3. Subsection (i) of section 11-24b of the general statutes is 334
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 335
passage): 336
(i) No principal public library shall be eligible to receive a state grant 337
in accordance with the provisions of subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this 338
section if such principal public library does not maintain and adhere to 339
a collection development [, collection management and collection 340
reconsideration policies] and maintenance policy, a library display and 341
program policy and a library material review and reconsideration policy 342
that have been [approved] adopted by the board of trustees or other 343
governing body of such library pursuant to section 2 of this act. Such 344
[collection reconsideration] material review and reconsideration policy 345
shall offer residents a clear process to request a reconsideration of 346
library materials. In the instance of a book challenge, these policies shall 347
govern. 348
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage 11-24b(i)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(e), "library" was inserted before "material" for consistency;
in Section 1(e)(4), "may" was changed to "shall" for consistency with
standard drafting conventions; in Section 2(b)(2), "library program and
display" was changed to "library display and program" for consistency;
in Section 2(e), "library" was inserted before "material" for consistency;
in Section 2(e)(4), "may" was changed to "shall" for consistency with
standard drafting conventions; in Section 2(h), "library program and
display" was changed to "library display and program" for consistency; Substitute Bill No. 1271
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and in Section 3, "library" was inserted before the first instance of
"material" for consistency.
KID Joint Favorable Subst.